Kyudo * Note

After completing his training, Shūichi bid farewell to Setsuna and left the Uchiha Clan Compound alone.

To get from the Uchiha Clan Compound to the Hyuga Clan Compound, you have to pass through a small forest and then go around half of a Commercial Street.

It was late at night, and the shops on the street had long since closed, with only the Stone Lanterns on the street corners still lit.

The light cast thin lines through the cracks in the stone path, and his shadow, sometimes long, sometimes short, moved across these patches of light.

His nerves were on edge, his eyes fixed ahead, glancing to his sides out of the corner of his eye.

His right hand hung at his side, close to his Ninja Tool Pouch, ready to draw Kunai at any moment.

As he passed each alleyway, he quickened his pace and tilted his head slightly to make sure no one was in the alley.

This was his standard procedure for crossing Konoha; he did it every time.

As with the past few days, everything was calm and peaceful.

No one followed him, no one blocked his way, and no one waited for him around the corner.

He left the village via the last man-made dirt road and stepped into the woods, where the shadows of the trees swallowed him up instantly.

He began using his Ninja Footwork to move forward in the woods, and he was very fast.

He quickly passed through the woods and stepped onto the stone path on the outskirts of the Hyuga Clan Compound.

At the edge of the field of vision came the walls of the Hyuga Clan Compound. The white walls and blue tiles gleamed with a cold, grayish-white hue under the moonlight.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief and slowed his pace.

Hyuga Akari stood inside the door waiting for him.

She was wearing a casual kimono with a thin Haori draped over it, and stood by the stone path with her hands behind her back.

"... Akari." Shūichi walked over, then paused. "You don't have to wait here every time."

Akari heard his voice, turned around, and smiled.

"Just in case," she said. "Did you make any progress today?"

Shūichi moment. "I'm not quite sure..."

"Okay, no rush," Akari said. "In that case, I'll head back. You should get some rest."

Shūichi of hair.

The two walked towards their respective residences.

The ancestral land was extremely quiet.

The moonlight shone on the stone path, making his footprints appear white.

Neat houses lined both sides of the road, some windows still lit, and warm yellow light shone from behind paper doors, with shadowy figures moving about.

The air was filled with the lingering smell of firewood from dinner, mixed with the scent of tatami mats and old wood.

Home is always the best.

That day, he was forced to become a disciple by Setsuna.

Upon returning to his ancestral home, the adults immediately summoned him to the Meeting Room.

The entire Hyuga Main Family gathered there.

They sat in front, all staring at him.

"Was it arranged by Lord Izuna?" asked the Clan Head leader, Hyuga Tennin.

He nodded anxiously.

Several clan elders questioned him, asking very detailed questions.

What did Lord Izuna say to you? What was Uchiha Setsuna's attitude? How long will it take you to learn Kyudo? Will you be able to learn his techniques? Will you be able to bring these techniques Hyuga Clan?

Standing among a group of elderly people, he could only admit that he knew nothing.

He truly knew nothing, because Setsuna he had done that day was beat him up and let him handle Archery once.

After listening, the elderly people whispered among themselves.

The voice was too low for him to hear.

But he could see their expressions.

Hope, apprehension, scrutiny, expectation, and unease were all mixed together, creating an atmosphere that was both heavy and joyful.

It was only after that questioning that he truly realized what a burden he was carrying.

The Hyuga Clan wants to change the status quo.

Caged Bird Seal, the Gentle Fist, the status of the Branch Family.

These problems became increasingly difficult to hide after Konoha was founded.

Back in the Warring States Period, everything was taken for granted.

War needs sacrifices, the Main Family needs protection, and the Branch Family exists for this purpose.

But Konoha was different. Hashirama Senju created a new order; Ninjas were no longer tools, and the Shinobi Village was a union of various clans.

Other Shinobi Clans are changing, and the Hyuga Clan must change too.

But change doesn't happen overnight.

The image of Caged Bird Seal is carved on the foreheads of several generations of the Branch Family. It's not something that can be changed overnight.

The fighting style is also different. Gentle Fist is the foundation of the Hyuga Clan, but its limitations have been repeatedly proven on the battlefield. However, the Hyuga are not the only Shinobi Clan skilled in close combat.

Although Gentle Fist can still hold its own in this area, to reach a higher level, one must inevitably climb higher.

Therefore, a breakthrough is needed.

Choose someone to learn the technology of another tribe, and bring them back to be gradually digested and integrated.

This is a long-term plan; it cannot be publicized, and too many people cannot know about it.

Originally, the candidate was Hinata Rei.

Born into the Branch Family and Caged Bird Seal, she will be a very easy pawn to manipulate even if the Caged Bird Seal. She is also the only junior who has ever cooperated with Uchiha Izuna and Uchiha Setsuna.

Sending her to learn Archery from Setsuna under the guise of returning a gift would be a logical and unobtrusive decision that wouldn't attract much attention.

But her leg wasn't fully recovered, and she still needed crutches to walk. Kyudo requires stance training and lower body strength, which her leg couldn't support.

Therefore, the Hyuga Clan is waiting for her leg injury to heal.

Then, Shūichi suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

That day, Shūichi's impulsive decision triggered a chain reaction that caught the Hyuga Clan off guard.

First, it was Uchiha Izuna's arrangement that brought him close to Uchiha Setsuna, and then Setsuna forcibly forced him to become his disciple. By the Hyuga Clan realized what was happening, he was already Setsuna's disciple.

Thus, the responsibility fell on his shoulders.

He walked along the stone-paved road, passing a row of brightly lit houses.

Someone pushed open the door to get water, saw him, stopped what they were doing, and nodded at him.

He nodded in response, without stopping.

Although he carried the heavy burden of his family, he actually chose to become an apprentice voluntarily.

That day.

In Setsuna, they lifted him up from the ground and carried him to a Training Ground.

It's a very common Training Ground. The ground is compacted, and three wooden stakes stand side by side in the distance, with marks left by Shuriken.

In Setsuna, he took down the bow and arrows he always carried, without asking him if he wanted to learn or if he had any prior knowledge. He simply stood beside him, turned sideways to face him, nocked an arrow, and drew the bow.

Then.

Clang--

He had seen Archery before.

On the battlefield, there are archer ninjas, the kind who crouch on tree branches and fire sneaky arrows. They shoot and then run away, their posture crooked and their bows short, only seeking to hit the target, nothing else.

He thought that Archery was just like that, a long-range killing technique, no different from throwing Shuriken or Kunai.

But in that Setsuna moment, he understood what true Kyudo is like.

The man stood there, and from nocking the arrow to drawing the bow to releasing it, the whole movement was seamless.

In the lingering echo of the bowstring's vibration, the arrow was already embedded in the wooden stake, its fletching still trembling slightly.

That bowbeat was unlike any he had ever heard before.

It wasn't a short, sharp crack; it was a resonant, penetrating sound.

The sound was like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, ripples spreading outwards in concentric circles.

It seemed as if it could pierce through the void and reach the other side.

In an instant, he was captivated.

It's like holding a key in your hand, and now you've finally found your lock, and everything becomes clear.

"I want to learn this," he thought to himself.

However, he had no clue how to become as powerful as Setsuna.

That person's Archery weren't developed through tricks; his entire being, just standing there, was a bow.

From her posture to her breathing to the angle of her gaze, every detail was perfectly integrated, making it impossible to imitate. No matter how you adjust your posture, you can never achieve such perfection as Setsuna.

What does it take for a person to go through, how many years does it take, and how many times does it take to repeat the same thing to become like that?

When he came to his senses, he was already standing at his own doorstep.

Light shone through the crack in the door.

There was a figure moving behind the paper door.

He pushed open the door. The light in the Genkan was off, and the hallway was dark. Only the light coming from the inner room spread out as a warm yellow patch on the tatami mat.

The mother was kneeling in the middle of the bedroom, tidying up clothes.

Hearing the door open, she looked up. The light fell on her face, making the fine lines at the corners of her eyes appear faint.

"I'm back," Shūichi said.

His mother saw him and smiled.

"Welcome back," she said.

He spoke a few words with his mother. He told her where they went and what they did.

The mother listened, nodding occasionally, her hands never stopping as she put a neatly folded bathrobe into the wardrobe.

"The soup is still warm on the stove; help yourself if you want some."

"No need, I've already eaten out."

He stood up and walked towards his room.

He lit the lamp.

By the light of the candle, I took off my outer clothes, folded them neatly, and changed into a yukata (light robe).

Then he sat down at the low table and pulled a piece of paper from under a stack of books at the corner of the table.

The paper was cut to a smaller size than regular paper, and the four corners were glued to the wall with grains of rice.

There were already seven or eight such pieces of paper pasted on the wall, arranged in a staggered pattern, forming a semicircle.

The paper was drawn with tiny, matchstick-like figures, a bow-drawing posture, and a target.

The painting was covered with numerous annotations, with arrows extending from the painting and pointing to the words beside it.

Muscle morphology, angle bias, and insights.

He peeled off yesterday's paper, placed it on the table, and picked up a new sheet and his charcoal pencil.

The first thing.

The condition of today's first arrow.

He began to Writing.

Afternoon Training Ground, thirty-step target practice.

The arrow landed on the outer edge of the bullseye. Not exactly in the exact spot, but it was the closest shot to the bullseye that day.

He first drew a little figure drawing a bow, and then drew the target for the first arrow of the day on it.

Shūichi began by recalling how he had managed to do it.

But I can't remember. I only remember that I wasn't thinking about anything at the time. I just drew my bow, nocked the arrow, and looked at the bullseye.

In that instant, he didn't think of anything; the next second, the arrow was shot out.

He went over those few seconds in his mind again, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall how he had managed to do it.

None of the subsequent 199 arrows could compare to the first one.

No matter how I adjusted, I couldn't regain the form of that arrow.

He frowned and wrote on the paper: It was too rushed, I didn't remember.

He put down his pen, placed today's paper side by side with yesterday's, compared the two days' results, and only after confirming that today's paper was better than yesterday's did he contentedly paste today's paper on the wall.